Parsifal (1982 film)

Parsifal is a 1982 West German-French opera film directed by

Parsifal
Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, based on the opera of the same name by
Richard Wagner. It was shown out of competition at the 1982
Cannes Film Festival.[3]

The soundtrack is a complete performance of the opera, but the

imagery used is a melange including medieval costume, puppetry,
Nazi relics and a giant death mask of Wagner. The Grail itself is
represented by Wagner's Bayreuth Theatre, and Parsifal's key
transformation is portrayed with a change of actor to an androgynous
but deliberately female-suggesting form in order to achieve a union
of male and female at the conclusion of Act II.

Contents
Cast
Production Film poster
Reception Directed by Hans-Jürgen
References Syberberg
Notes Produced by Annie Nap-
External links Oleon
Written by Richard Wagner
Starring Armin Jordan
Cast
Cinematography Igor Luther
Armin Jordan - Amfortas / Music Conductor Edited by Jutta
Robert Lloyd - Gurnemanz Brandstaedter
Martin Sperr - Titurel Marianne
Michael Kutter - Parsifal 1 Fehrenberg
Edith Clever - Kundry Distributed by Zoetrope
Thomas Fink - 2nd Squire Studios[1]
Rudolph Gabler - 1st Knight of the Grail Release date May 1982
Monika Gärtner - 1st Squire
Reiner Goldberg - Parsifal (voice) Running time 255 minutes

Aage Haugland - Klingsor Country West Germany

Karin Krick - Parsifal 2 France[2]
David Luther - Young Parsifal Language German
David Meyer - 3rd Squire
Yvonne Minton - Kundry (voice)
Bruno Romani-Versteeg - 3rd Knight of the Grail
Judith Schmidt - 4th Squire
 Wolfgang Schöne - Amfortas (voice)
Amelie Syberberg - Bearer of the Grail
Urban von Klebelsberg - 2nd Knight of the Grail

Production
Prior to making Parsifal, Hans-Jürgen Syberberg had made three films which bring up the subject of
Richard Wagner: Ludwig: Requiem for a Virgin King from 1972, The Confessions of Winifred Wagner from
1975 and Hitler: A Film from Germany from 1977. The Confessions of Winifred Wagner had upset the
descendants of Wagner, which had the effect that Syberberg was not allowed to use any existing recording of
the opera for the soundtrack of Parsifal. A production was instead arranged specifically for the film, with
Armin Jordan as conductor. The film was shot entirely in studio in 35 days, in Bavaria Atelier in Munich.
The budget was just above three million Deutsche Mark.[4]

Reception
The New York Times' John Rockwell wrote: "Hans Jurgen Syberberg's film version of Richard Wagner's
music drama, Parsifal, should enthrall both film lovers and Wagner fans. Mr. Syberberg's work represents
not only the summation of his career thus far, but is as gripping, strange and, in the end, devotionally faithful
a staging as any Wagner opera has received in our time." Rockwell continued: "Just why Mr. Syberberg's
scenic innovations don't seem as disturbing as other modern directorial innovations - Patrice Chéreau's
Bayreuth Ring, for instance - is hard to explain. ... [I]nstead of their shocking us away from the romantic
spell of the music, they reinforce that spell. It's as if Wagner's hypnotic allure and Brecht's intellectualized
alienation have been somehow mystically united."[5] Graham Bradshaw wrote in London Review of Books:
"Using clever front projection techniques, [Syberberg] provides a rapid background commentary on the
main dramatic action: this is sometimes contrived and disruptive, but more frequently suggests the reflexes
and ricochets of a mind that is actively engaging with Parsifal."[6]

References
1. "American Zoetrope Filmography" (https://www.zoetrope.com/american-zoetrope/).
zoetrope.com. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
2. "Parsifal" (http://www.filmportal.de/film/parsifal_6e78007c8cc84c759cef1a3411656bf1).
filmportal.de (in German). Retrieved 1 January 2014.
3. "Festival de Cannes: Parsifal" (http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/1562/y
ear/1982.html). festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
4. Müller, Ulrich (2002). "Blank, Syberberg, and the German Arthurian Tradition". In Harty, Kevin
J. (ed.). Cinema Arthuriana: Twenty Essays. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company.
p. 179-182. ISBN 0786413441.
5. Rockwell, John (23 January 1983). "Hans Syberg's adaptation of 'Parsifal' " (https://www.nytim
es.com/1983/01/23/movies/hans-syberg-s-adaptation-of-parsifal.html). The New York Times.
Retrieved 19 May 2015.
6. Bradshaw, Graham (3 March 1983). "Graham Bradshaw writes about the interpretation of
Wagner" (http://www.lrb.co.uk/v05/n04/graham-bradshaw/graham-bradshaw-writes-about-the-i
nterpretation-of-wagner). London Review of Books. Retrieved 19 May 2015.

Notes
 Hans Jürgen Syberberg and His Film of Wagner's Parsifal, by Solveig Olsen, University Press
of America, 2006. ISBN 0-7618-3376-5

External links
Parsifal (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084476/) on IMDb
About the Film (http://www.monsalvat.no/sybrbrg.htm)

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This page was last edited on 24 February 2020, at 17:20 (UTC).

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